CHANGE Fitness chief and Milky Lane co-founder Pete Haselhurst has unexpectedly closed a major Gold Coast gym while on bail over allegations including extortion, stalking and drug possession.
The closure comes after three men described as mysterious “debt collectors of Middle Eastern appearance from Sydney” were extradited to Queensland. They are accused of threatening people associated with CHANGE and Haselhurst’s former burger business before demanding money.
Staff at the Broadbeach CHANGE facility arrived for work the following Thursday only to discover they had been locked out and scheduled classes had been cancelled. The business had been closed without warning by Haselhurst and his wife, Emma Jean Pearson.
The abrupt shutdown has fuelled speculation within Gold Coast fitness circles that the gym’s landlord acted over alleged unpaid rent.
Haselhurst was released from prison last month after spending six weeks in custody following his July arrest. He is accused of using men “known to NSW police” to extort former business associates.
Queensland Police confirmed that three men, aged 35, 38 and 45, had been extradited to the Gold Coast.
The trio is due to appear at Southport Magistrates Court on Friday, charged with multiple counts of extortion with intent to obtain a benefit through threats of detriment.
The charges relate to alleged incidents in Mermaid Waters and Currumbin Waters, where unidentified men reportedly claimed to be “debt collectors” and demanded a substantial sum from former business associates.
CHANGE Fitness boss and Milky Lane co-founder Pete Haselhurst, pictured with his wife and business partner Emma Jean Pearson, has closed a major Gold Coast gym while on bail over extortion, stalking and drug charges
Staff found the Broadbeach gym locked last Thursday, with classes cancelled and speculation that rent arrears had prompted the closure. Haselhurst says the move marks a fresh start
Haselhurst faces eight charges, including three counts of extortion, three counts of unlawful stalking and one count of possessing dangerous drugs. Ms Pearson has not been implicated
The alleged targets included former partners in Haselhurst’s burger chain, Milky Lane, who prosecutors claim were terrorised.
The Daily Mail has asked Queensland Police for further comment on the extraditions. At the same time, Haselhurst and Pearson have sought to ease concerns surrounding the Broadbeach gym’s sudden closure.
One client took to Facebook to criticise the decision, writing sarcastically: “So kind of Change Broadbeach to cancel classes… have the doors locked and ZERO communication even when emailed AND messaged on Instagram, with its members happy to charge us our weekly fee last week. SHAME ON YOU.”
An instructor replied that the owners had been “nothing short of supportive, communicating and explaining to members”. Haselhurst and Pearson also emailed clients, describing the shutdown as an “eleventh hour” decision.
“We were presented with an unexpected opportunity that we felt we could not pass up,” they wrote.
According to the email, the premises will be taken over by Brisbane fitness operators Emil Juresic and Giselle Kramer. Their Level X “state-of-the-art gym and luxury wellness empire” is due to expand onto the Gold Coast in December.
Haselhurst and Pearson have responded to concerns about the abrupt closure of the Broadbeach CHANGE gym
A Broadbeach client criticised the cancellation of classes, locked doors and lack of communication in a sarcastic Facebook post, adding: “SHAME ON YOU”
Level X confirmed to the Mail that it would be “taking over the space” occupied by the CHANGE gym. However, fitness contractors have raised concerns about whether they will be paid during the expected month-long renovation.
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The email reassured CHANGE members: ‘Emma and I will be there, training alongside you. While the transition is emotional for us, we are excited about what it will bring to the community we love.’
Ms Pearson, who previously told the Mail that reports of her partner’s arrest ‘were incorrect’ and later said, ‘I’m not interested,’ is not implicated in the police charges.
Haselhurst is facing eight charges, including three counts of extortion, three of unlawful stalking, one count of possessing dangerous drugs and one count of possessing prescription medicines or hazardous poisons.
The court heard during one of Haselhurst’s bail applications that a couple was confronted at their home in Mermaid Waters at about 10.50am on July 18, with Queensland Police telling the Daily Mail that ‘two unknown men identified themselves as “debt collectors”, demanded a significant amount of money, and made threats’.
Haselhurst spent six weeks behind bars before being released on bail, after a court heard video of ‘debt collectors’ berating business associates of the CHANGE founder for money
Haselhurst and Pearson said the closure was ‘an eleventh hour’ decision, explaining: ‘We were presented with an unexpected opportunity we felt we could not pass up’
The 28-year-old man and the 27-year-old woman ‘were then transported to a café at a nearby shopping centre.
‘[There] they met with a 39-year-old man, who they had previously been involved in a Broadbeach business venture with in 2025. Further threats were allegedly made.’
The court was played a video in which one ‘debt collector’ repeatedly berated the pair, saying ‘Listen here you motherf***er, if you owe this c*** money, you gotta sit with him and sort it out, you understand?’
In another conversation between the complainants and a second debt collector, he said, ‘You robbed him a hundred grand, brother.’ Both debt collectors were ‘physically imposing’.
Then, on a Sunday morning about 8.20am at Currumbin Waters, ‘the same two men attended the house of a 47-year-old man… where they demanded a significant amount of money and made threats’, police said.
The man reportedly refused to leave the house he shared with his partner and their children, who were not home at the time, as the two men demanded money.
The Mail understands that Haselhurst was building CHANGE as an alternative to the once-ubiquitous F45 fitness empire, having run F45 Bondi Beach for six years before departing in 2020.
Haselhurst parted ways with the Milky Lane burger and milkshake chain he co-founded about the same time he left F45. He has also run franchise businesses called Adventure Tours, Lost Paradise, Lost Picnic and The Entrepreneur Degree.
On its website, CHANGE – now rebranded as Change Life Enhanced – promises ‘workouts designed by the world’s best to help you unlock your limitless potential’.
In videos promoting his business – which has afforded Haselhurst a luxury jet-set lifestyle – he plugs a new ‘House of Health’ in Sydney’s Surry Hills as a ‘one-stop’ solution to ‘health, performance, and longevity’.
Haselhurst personally ran the Broadbeach gym, as well as a gym in North Adelaide and a proposed forthcoming Surry Hills branch.
However, three Gold Coast franchises at North Lakes, Sunnybank and Coomera have closed.
According to one of his websites, Haselhurst created ‘the most successful franchisee in the entire F45 Training network’ in Bondi, which ‘was crowned the number one F45 studio in the world for eight consecutive years’.